Zorro's Sunburn
by katie1999
Summary: What if Zorro got a sunburn during his ride? A funny reveal story.


**Zorro's Sunburn**

Diego had been riding as Zorro the whole day, chasing cattle rustlers until he had finally delivered them into the hands of Mendoza to put them in jail. After the long winter months with only a few hours of sun between the clouds, it had been the first day with bright sunshine.  
Diego had already changed his clothing and was now taking care of his horse. "Do you know what's for dinner, Felipe?" he asked the youth who had entered the cave from the library. "I'm starving after only eating snack during the ride. I didn't think this would take so long. Can you finish here for me while I make my presence known to my father before he starts yelling for me again?"

As Diego turned around and was about to leave the cave, Felipe sprinted ahead and intercepted his exit with an appalled look on his face.

"What is it? Why did you stop me? There's nobody in the library to see me. I checked the spy hole."

Felipe shook his head and pulled at Diego's sleeve, signing him to return to the back of the cave.

Irritated by the boy's behavior, Diego let himself be drawn to the back wall with the shaving mirror. Once he looked inside, he knew why Felipe had been so shocked by his face.

During the day, the sun had burnt his face, but the top half had been protected by his black mask. While his cheeks and skin had now a red-brown tan, the upper part of his face was noticeably lighter except for the part around the eyes from the holes, leaving an inverse imprint of his mask on his face. He cursed silently.

"This is bad, Felipe. You were right to stop me. I can't go out like this. One look at my face and everyone knows I'm Zorro."

Felipe signed and Diego nodded, prompting the boy to go to the cupboard at the side of the cave and return with a bottle of walnut oil. Diego applied some dark oil to his face, hoping to darken the upper part of his face to give it the same shade as the rest. Though he tried to even out the differences, it was of no avail. The sun had made his unprotected face turn red, and the oil only darkened his skin, missing the red tone.

Felipe watched his efforts with interest and when he looked at the result he couldn't hold back his laughter, despite Diego's stern look.

"This isn't funny," Diego growled, though he had to admit that the boy was right as he examined his face in the mirror. He did look funny now that his skin color was much darker than before and no longer matched the shade of the other visible parts of his skin.

Felipe signed that he could apply now for the role of the dark skinned Othello in Shakespeare's play, and Diego had to agree with a smile.  
He took the soap to clean his face and remove the tanning effect of the walnut oil. In the end his whole face was burning red and itching while his inverse mask was still noticeable on his face.

"I need to find another solution," Diego sighed, "but for the moment it seems I'm trapped in here. I can't even sleep in my own bed because I can't let anyone see my face."

Felipe expressed his sympathy as he realized the extent of Diego's predicament.

"Please excuse my absence with my father and get me something to eat."

Felipe nodded in agreement and exited the cave.

Diego tried some oils and powders to cover his face, but they either didn't have a concealing effect or increased the itching of his irritated skin even more. Frustrated, Diego gave up and concentrated on the meal Felipe had brought him. He had been looking forward to a delicious dinner but now it was reduced to what Felipe had been able to snatch from the kitchen without being caught by the kitchen stuff.

With a hungry belly he tried to find sleep on the pallet that was supposed to be used in an emergency in case he was injured and needed treatment in the cave. On the uncomfortable makeshift bed he couldn't find sleep until he finally gave up. He looked through the spy hole to check if Felipe and his father had finally finished their chess games before he emerged silently from the cave. When he heard someone coming, he quickly hid in a dark corner of the unlit library. As he identified Felipe, he stepped forward.

Surprised to see him, Felipe started to sign agitated, pointing out that Diego needed to return to the cave since he couldn't let anyone see his face.

"I know I should go back, Felipe, but I can't stay in the cave all the time. I have decided that I'll stay in my room instead, pretending to be sick. You'll have to tell everyone that my illness maybe contagious and for everyone's protection nobody is allowed to enter my room except you."

Felipe nodded reluctantly, indicating the danger to Diego if he was discovered.

"I'll think about that tomorrow but for the moment I should be safe in my room."

The following day Diego spent in his room, after he had slept late, catching up on missing sleep from previous nights that he had spent as Zorro. The servants were instructed to leave all his meals in front of the door and only Felipe was allowed to enter.

On the second day of his self-imposed solitude, his father entered the room just after Felipe had carried out the tray with his breakfast when Diego hadn't had the time to lock the door again.

"Father, stay out!" Diego jumped into his bed and quickly grabbed his blanket to pull it over his head.

"Diego, please. I want to know how you are. What ails you? Felipe told me you have a contagious illness. How bad is it? Do you need the doctor?"

"Father, I just need some quiet, and I'll be fine again. Please leave now," Diego said from under his blanket.

"I had all the childhood diseases one could get, and I'm quite sure I won't catch whatever you have. I can't be that bad either if you let Felipe inside your room."

"Please, Father, just leave," Diego asked him more urgently, as it became more and more hot and uncomfortable under the blanket.

"Just let me see what it is, and I'll leave you alone. Didn't you have all the childhood diseases too? Especially those that left all those spots over your body? So, what is it that you didn't have yet?"

Glimpsing from under his cover, Diego spotted his father standing by his bedside, waiting for him to show his face. Sweating and annoyed, Diego couldn't stand it any longer. Pulling down the blanket, he faced his father challenging.

Surprised, his father stared at him. "What happened to your face? It looks strange. Why is it lighter at the top? It almost looks as if you had covered the top half." Then the truth hit him. "You! You are Zorro. I don't understand. How?" He slumped into the nearest chair next to the bedside.

"Yes, it's true. I'm Zorro. As you can see, I'm not really ill but only in the unfortunate predicament that prevents me from leaving my room if I don't want to be discovered," Diego admitted miserably.

"I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't so clearly visible on your face. My son is Zorro, and your face really looks funny." His father started to laugh.

"Is that all you have to say? I trust you with a secret that I tried to keep from you the past years, and you laugh about it?"

"I'm sorry, Diego," his father couldn't stop laughing, "but I can't help myself when I look at your face."

Diego made a face, and his father became serious again. "I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. How did you manage to keep it a secret for so long? How did you get the idea for Zorro and how..."

Unable to escape and leave the room, Diego faced his father's questions about Zorro, his secret life and Victoria.

Z~Z~Z

Alejandro had given his son a break after they had talked all morning, and then he rode to the pueblo to have a drink at the tavern and a talk with Victoria. He had chosen the late lunchtime when the tavern was almost empty again.

"How's Diego?" Victoria asked, concerned. "I heard he has some mysterious illness that prevents him from leaving his room. What is it? And is it really so contagious that he can't see anyone?"

"No, I won't say it's contagious." Alejandro chuckled when he thought about Diego's face. "His condition is rather _unique_." Nobody but Zorro would get a sunburn like that, but he didn't say that aloud.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, confused. "And what's so funny about it?"

"I simply can't tell you," he grinned. "You must see it for yourself. Why don't you come to the hacienda later during siesta? Diego will be happy to see you."

"But I thought Diego was so ill that he can't receive any visitors?"

"I can't explain it, but you'll understand when you see him. In a way his condition is serious, but he needs to see you."

Alejandro thought about the long talk he had with Diego after the secret had been revealed. He had urged his son to tell Victoria the truth too and Diego had agreed that he couldn't keep it from her after he had revealed himself to his father.

"What you say makes no sense, Don Alejandro. While you say his condition is serious, you're laughing at the same time. What is it?"

"Come to the hacienda and see for yourself. You're in for a surprise, and please don't be too hard on him."

"What do you mean by that? I won't treat anyone badly when he's sick."

"Diego isn't exactly sick, simply suffering from a special condition." Alejandro grinned.

"What special condition?"

"One of his own making. It concerns his pride too," he hinted.

"Oh, his pride. I start to understand now. Is it a kind of pimple he doesn't want anyone to see? And now he's hiding behind a _contagious_ illness?" Victoria started to grin. "That's typical for him."

"Something like that, but you'll be surprised. And please don't tell."

"I won't, Don Alejandro. I'll come as soon as I have closed for siesta. I can't wait to see Diego with whatever it is."

Z~Z~Z

Anticipating Victoria's visit, Diego had drawn the curtains in his room closed, darkening the room enough that his face couldn't be seen at once.

"Diego?" After she entered the room, she stopped at the door, adjusting to the sudden lack of light. It took her a minute to make out his shape near the window, hiding his face in the shadows.

"Your father told me that it's something about your face. There's no need to be so shy around me. We're friends, aren't we?"

"When you see my face, you'll find out something I should have told you some time ago, and I want to tell you that I'm sorry I didn't do it earlier, but it was safer for you."

"What do you mean?"

Diego didn't give an answer but pulled open the curtains filling the room with the bright light of the afternoon sun.

"What have you done to your face? You look funny?" She started to giggle. "Is that why you don't want anyone to see you?"

"Why does everyone think this is so funny?" Diego stepped toward her and took her hands. "Look closer, Victoria!"

"You! It's you! You are Zorro. And now you have the mask imprinted on you face." Victoria continued to giggle despite Diego's annoyed look.

"Is that all you have to say about it?"

"I had a suspicion sometimes that it might be you, especially when you gave me some hints, but then you behaved so differently from Zorro that you drove me crazy. I always tried to find a proof that it's you, but I never thought it would look like that." She giggled louder again.

"Victoria, please. Can we talk? What do you think?"

"You're right. I should stop laughing." Victoria put her hand in front of her mouth to hide her smile. "You want to know if I can love the man behind the mask or in this case the man with the mask on his face?" she joked as Diego threw her a look. "The answer is yes."

She put her hands in Diego's again and squeezed them. "I asked myself that question before whenever I thought about the possibility that it might be you behind that mask, and I realized that I love both you and Zorro." She rose to her tiptoes to kiss him.

They drew apart when the need to breathe required them to, but Diego kept her in a tight embrace,

smiling happily at her.

"I don't have to ask why you decided to reveal yourself to me now when it's obvious." She pointed at his face. "Why didn't you try to cover it up?"

"I tried, but my face only became even more red and itchy," Diego said miserably, rubbing his face.

"I have some makeup that you could use to even out the differences from the sunburn."

"You have makeup? I never noticed you using one."

"All the women have makeup. You're not supposed to notice it. Most men don't until it's not there."

"I believe you but you look beautiful to me all the time." Diego took her hands and kissed it. "Do you think you can help me with your makeup? Won't it itch?"

"I can't promise that it will make you mask invisible but at least I can try."

"When can you start? The sooner I can get out of this room the better."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have it with me. I need to go back to the tavern to fetch it."

"Can you go back now and get it? Please?" Diego looked at her pleadingly.

"I'm on my way," she agreed though she had hoped to stay out of the hot sun during siesta.

After another kiss, she left with the promise to return at once.

Z~Z~Z

"This is marvelous! There's hardly any difference to be seen." Diego looked into his shaving mirror on his dressing table to inspect the result of Victoria's treatment. Sitting in front of him, it had taken her some time to apply several layers of makeup and powders to cover the different shading of his skin while he was required to remain still and not to make any faces. He turned his face as he looked into the mirror from different angles. "Thank you."  
As he leaned towards her to give her a kiss, she raised her hand in warning. "You need to be careful not to rub your face. It will destroy the makeup, and I'll have to start all over again."

"I'm careful. I promise. My life depends on it and on you." He kissed her gently and checked the mirror again. "Look! It's still fine."

"Yes, for the moment but I don't know for how long. If you unconsciously rub it off, it will give you away."

"I won't go to the pueblo and face the alcalde for some days but at least I'm no longer confined to this room."

"It's not permanent. As soon as you wash your face, your mask will be visible again."

"Will you leave me your makeup until my face looks better again?"

Victoria wasn't pleased with the idea. "It's not sufficient to give it to you, but you also have to know how to use it in the correct way."

"Will you come back instead and treat me again tomorrow?"

"I will have to, but you have to wait for me in the morning, until I find the time to come here."

"We can tell that I'm very ill and that you visit me all the time because you don't know if I'll survive. And while you fear for my life you discover your love for me?"

"And we can get married?" she asked hopefully.

"As soon as you want to, Querida."

"I should send you to bed when you are so ill," she kissed him.

"And destroy all your work? Kissing is more fun." He grinned at her.

Z~Z~Z

Alejandro agreed on their plan on pretending that Diego was seriously ill and spreading the news in the pueblo. During the next days, he and Victoria feigned to be seriously concerned for his health while they could hardly suppress their grinning when thinking about Diego's _unique_ condition.

The alcalde raised some questions about Victoria's sudden shift of affection from Zorro to Diego but the arrival of the Mexican army a week later left him no time to investigate.

After the alcalde's departure for Spain, Zorro never appeared again, and the citizens of the pueblo kept their speculations about the true identity of their hero to themselves.


End file.
